Director of Student Belonging

Francis Parker School•San Diego, CA

3d•$100,000 - $125,000•Onsite

About The Position

Francis Parker School is seeking an enthusiastic, dedicated, and passionate educator who shares its core values: Students First, Academic Excellence, Global Perspective, Strength of Character, Inclusive Community, and No Limit to Better. Collegial and collaborative, Parker faculty create a learning environment that is dynamic and engaging. Parker faculty are content and pedagogical experts who invest in professional growth generously supported by the School. Importantly, Parker’s unswerving commitment to being a diverse, equitable, and inclusive community creates a culture of respect for all. About Francis Parker School: Parker is a coeducational independent day school in San Diego, California with 1,330 students in Junior Kindergarten through Grade 12. Founded in 1912, the school’s mission is “to create and inspire a diverse community of independent thinkers whose academic excellence, global perspective, and strength of character prepare them to make a meaningful difference in the world.” Parker has two campuses: one in Mission Hills (Lower School, Junior Kindergarten - Grade 5) and a second in Linda Vista (Middle and Upper School, Grades 6 - 12). Job Description: The Director of Student Belonging plays a critical role in reinforcing Parker's commitment to ensuring that diversity is not only present but celebrated and meaningfully integrated into the bedrock of Parker’s institutional ethos. This work involves fostering meaningful partnerships with the school's internal and external stakeholders, enhancing competency across divisions, and supporting affinity groups to strengthen community connections. Reporting to the Head of Integration for Belonging, the Director is the primary student-facing leader within Parker's distributed belonging structure. This is a deeply relational role: the Director works directly with divisional leaders across all three divisions, to support student identity development, affinity groups and student leadership, bridging the gap between the classroom and lived student experience. The Director of Student Belonging will be a dynamic and resilient leader with deep expertise in DEIB practices and a proven ability to inspire and unite diverse stakeholders. They will possess exceptional interpersonal and communication skills, enabling them to navigate complex conversations, build trust, and foster meaningful connections across the JK–12 community. Strategic and empathetic, the ideal candidate will balance leadership with hands-on engagement. This leader will also be collaborative, approachable, and thoughtful, creating safe spaces for dialogue while advocating for and supporting all students.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree in a related field preferred
Minimum of 4 years of leadership in DEIB-related roles, with experience in PreK–12 settings, classroom teaching experience, and having formally supervised employees or student groups
Demonstrated experience leading or supporting affinity groups, identity-based student programming, or culturally responsive youth development
Experience applying restorative justice or restorative practice frameworks in educational or community settings
Experience with civil discourse facilitation — supporting students and adults in engaging respectfully and constructively across difference
Familiarity with the E.E. Ford Foundation Framework for Schools, or a demonstrated commitment to learning and actively applying it
Proven ability to lead change initiatives, develop strategic plans, and inspire community-wide collaboration
Expertise in translating research on equity and belonging into actionable and sustainable practices within schools

Nice To Haves

Independent school experience preferred but not required

Responsibilities

Bridge the gap between DEIB education and practice by creating spaces for student empowerment, identity support, bias-related incidents, and meaningful participation in civil discourse
Partner with deans, advisors, and student support teams to ensure students experiencing belonging challenges receive holistic, coordinated care
Reinforce Parker’s commitment to ensuring that belonging is not only present but celebrated and meaningfully integrated as the bedrock of Parker’s institutional ethos.
Oversee and support student affinity groups across all three divisions, ensuring spaces are healthy, purposeful, and well-resourced
Facilitate student participation in local, regional, and national belonging-focused conferences and leadership programs, including but not limited to NAIS SDLC, and Regional Student Diversity Summits
Create opportunities for dialogue, collaboration, and community building among students from different affinity communities
Facilitate efforts to recognize and celebrate cultural heritage events, religious observances, identity-based initiatives and identity-affirming assemblies within the school calendar
Partner with divisional leaders to integrate belonging programming into advisory, community meeting blocks, and the school calendar in ways that are developmentally appropriate and intellectually safe, and ensure belonging programming is visible, and well-communicated
Apply restorative justice practices to student conflict and community harm — facilitating restorative conversations, community circles, and follow-up accountability processes in partnership with divisional deans and student support leaders
Build student capacity for civil discourse: equipping students with the skills, frameworks, and facilitated practice needed to engage respectfully across difference, navigate difficult conversations, and participate in constructive disagreement
Support divisional leaders and faculty in implementing restorative approaches in their own spaces, serving as a coach and thought partner on restorative practice
Develop and maintain clear, consistent protocols for responding to bias-related incidents involving students, in partnership with the Head of Integration for Belonging and divisional leadership
Support the active rollout and implementation of the E.E. Ford Foundation Framework for Schools across all divisions, partnering with the Head of Integration for Belonging to align student-facing programming with the framework’s principles
Apply the E.E. Ford Framework as a guiding lens for affinity group programming, civil discourse facilitation, professional development content, and student support practices
Help build student familiarity with the framework through facilitated learning experiences and integrated programming
Use qualitative and quantitative data to identify areas of strength and opportunity, foster a culture of accountability, and facilitate progress toward DEIB goals, including data on student demographics
Track student participation, engagement, and satisfaction data across affinity groups and belonging programming, using data to inform program design and report on outcomes
Report regularly to the Head of Integration for Belonging on program progress, emerging student needs, and areas requiring institutional attention or response